Introduction to Relapsing
by Doctor Whoey
Summary: Jeff suspects Annie is back on Adderal, but instead of talking to her like a normal person he feels the correct course of action is to follow her around and see what happens... What DOES happen is entirely unexpected


I was walking through the supermarket this afternoon and this story popped into my head. I'll tell you how I connected it to Community at the end. Please R&R? I don't usually get a lot of reviews so I'm never sure how I'm doing as a writer, so I'd love some feedback.

Guess what? I don't own Community. Heart wrenching I know.

~o~

Jeff had suspected for weeks that Annie was using Adderal again. She was typically so wound up during finals week and she'd been unusually focused and calm this time around, and while that might seem like a good thing to be from the outside Jeff was concerned she'd turned back to her old habit to help her cope. It was only a few days ago that he decided to start following her, when after a particularly stressful study group session she'd managed to walk out of that room with a smile on her face while everyone else was practically pulling their hair out in frustration. This had been the final straw and Jeff resigned himself to making sure she was ok.

Today after group she had said she had errands to run, so off she went with Jeff unknowingly on her tail. When she pulled up to a shopping centre Jeff was pleased; lots of aisles to hide behind and follow her without causing suspicion. Only once did he stop to consider what he was actually doing with his spare time... had he really become THAT person? The kind of guy that would stoop to giving up his own precious free time to chase some girl around town? She turned her head to watch for traffic and he caught a glimpse of her smile... yes, he thought, she was definitely worth it.

Her shopping trip was rather uneventful. Jeff had to take a basket so as not to seem too inconspicuous, reaching for the nearest items (whatever they may be) whenever someone gave him a strange look. She spent about 30 minutes getting all the items she needed and headed for checkout, Jeff not too far behind. After she had gone through he put his basket down on a nearby column of chocolates to follow her out, only to be stopped by a burly customer about 2 feet taller than himself.

"You know," he started in a deep voice, "it's not very nice to leave that for the staff. Just because it's their job doesn't mean douche bags like you should take advantage of that. If you don't want them, put the items back yourself."

Jeff looked up at the other customer, who looked rather menacing. The last thing he wanted was to have to waste more time putting everything back as Annie was already at her car putting her shopping away. If she left after that he'd probably never catch up. He gave the gentleman a forced smile and took his basket up to the register.

"How are you today sir?" asked the young woman behind the counter.

"Yer fine, just ring this all up for me would you? I'm kind of in a hurry."

"Sure thing," she replied with a frown. She started to put his items through the scanner, and Jeff noticed an odd look on her face. Looking down at the items he'd grabbed without even really looking at them, he couldn't really believe what he was seeing.

On the counter in front of him he'd placed a large kitchen knife, duct tape, rope and-

"Oh God," he mumbled, putting his face into his hands.

She looked at the packed of condoms, then back at him with a look of serious fear on her face. Jeff had to think fast. He gave a small laugh.

"Oh it's ok," he brushed it off. "I know what this must look like but it's for a project for class; Crime Solving 101. I go to Greendale Community College." Crime Solving 101, he thought to himself. God, please let this blonde be as dumb as bat-shit...

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry to hear that," she replied with a sad tone, like a person speaks to someone who just lost their face in some hideous chemical accident. Jeff struggled not to take offence as she rang up his total and he paid for his misleading items and raced out the door. He was grateful to see Annie was just closing the boot of her car and heading towards the pharmacy.

"Bingo," he mumbled to himself, dumping his shopping bag into the nearest garbage can.

He quickly doubled back to get the condoms out.

Annie was already well inside the pharmacy when Jeff made his way through the doors. He glanced around desperately, looking for any sign of her before she spotted him first. Then he saw her at the front counter, pointing to a drug that was apparently behind the counter. She was talking with the pharmacist, and after a lengthy discussion she paid for her pills and walked away. He ducked into the nearest aisle and Jeff quickly noticed that she had a box of pills in a plastic bag. His heart grew heavy as he waited a little further back until she passed him and he followed her out. She made it to her car before he confronted her.

"Annie, stop," he begged her. She froze and spun around.

"Jeff? What are you doing here?" she squealed defensively.

"I followed you, and ok that makes me sound like the bad guy but here's the thing-"

"Um, YER! More than that, it makes you sound like the creepy stalker guy who's following around a girl over 10 years his junior!"

"Annie," he replied stiffly. "I know what's in the bag."

"You do?" she squeaked. She hadn't told anyone, she thought to herself. She had been so careful.

"Yes, I do." He reached his hand into her bag and pulled out the packet, holding it up.

"Really Annie? How long did you think you could hide this from us?"

"I didn't want anyone to worry! It was years ago and I've got it under control now!"

"You might now but what happens once finals are over? Can you really go back to a life without it?"

"Um, Jeff? I'm not going to stop taking it after finals," she replied, confused.

Jeff pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "You're so important to m- us Annie," he stumbled on his wording, but managed to recover and keep going. "I don't think we could handle losing you if you went off the deep end again and instead of walking through a plate glass window this time, you think that an oncoming vehicle is a cute little puppy and try to give it a cuddle."

Annie's mouth dropped open as realisation dawned over her face. She quickly snapped her mouth shut and despite her best efforts a small smile crept over it.

"Oh my God Annie, this isn't funny!" Jeff cried, throwing the packet to the ground in anger.

"Actually it is a little. Look at the packet," she said softly.

Confused, he glanced to the ground where he'd thrown the packet. He was embarrassed to see it was-

"A packet of aspirin. That's all," she told him gently.

"But, why... why worry about us finding out? Why did you look like you'd been found out?"

"Because I have," she told him. "Just not in the way you think."

He looked at her, and then at the packet on the ground. He reached down and picked it up, opened it and proceeded to take a couple of pills. This was making his head hurt.

"I didn't tell anyone because I know what Shirley, Britta and Troy can be like. And you, it seems," she said. "I take it every day."

"What? Why? Only old people take this stuff every day, isn't it for heart disease or something?" Jeff's face suddenly fell with that horrifying thought. Was his Annie seriously sick? And did he seriously just think of her as HIS Annie?

"Yes, but it's also used for thinning the blood. Jeff, I had a blood clot when I was 16," she blurted out.

Jeff raised his eyebrow and tried to recall what he knew about the condition.

"Were you a smoker?"

"No."

"Had you been on a long flight?"

"No Jeff, I was... argh!" she cried in frustration. She lowered her voice to barely a whisper. "I was on the pill."

"What? Why?"

"Because I get off on filling prescriptions... why do you think Jeff? I was seeing a guy and wanted to be prepared."

"Oh."

"Yer."

"You got a blood clot from the pill," he asked with doubt in his voice.

"Yes, apparently that happens and I didn't realise until my leg had turned blue and swelled to twice its size."

"What happened?"

"I was rushed to the hospital. They caught it before it dislodged and went to a vital organ."

"What COULD have happened?"

"Well, if it travelled to my heart I would have had a heart attack. And if it travelled to my brain I would have had a stroke."

Jeff leaned back onto Annie's car for support, the thought of her being so close to death was making him a little queasy. "You're ok now though?"

"Oh yer, I take this every day and it reduces the risk of another one popping up. Of course it means that I have to be really careful with, um," she leaned forward and whispered the next word, "contraception." She leaned back and resumed her conversation as normal. "But I guess I was worried that if you guys found out, particularly the more sensitive in the group, they'd be worried it would happen again. Hell, I worry all the time that it'll happen again..."

"Could it?"

"Having a baby will be difficult; with my hormones going mental it'll be pretty risky. And I have to wear these ugly pressure stockings when I travel. But no, as long as I take these I should be ok. I guess I was just being overly cautious."

"I get that," he said with a smile. Something was still bugging him though...

"You thought I'd bought Adderal didn't you," she said quietly. It wasn't a question.

"OK yes, I admit I did. But you have to acknowledge that you've been unusually calm and collected these last few weeks! I'm sorry, but it was the first conclusion I came to."

"No it's ok, I understand that. Actually the reason I have been is because I've started seeing a therapist."

"Really?" he asked in surprise.

"Yes, she's been very helpful! She's taught me how to take my neurosis about study and exams and process that into motivation of a different sort."

"And that is...?"

"I'm taking karate."

Jeff blinked, he hadn't seen that coming.

"Besides, being in the neighbourhood that I am it's been a doubly helpful skill to work on!"

"Yer I bet," he replied, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. "I'm sorry Annie, I feel really bad about not trusting you."

She shrugged. "It's ok, I get why you did. Next time though, just come and talk to me instead of following me around like a stalker, ok?"

"Deal," he replied guiltily.

~o~

Sorry, I've never been very good at ending my stories. Hope you liked it. I tried to throw in some humour but I'm not really the best at coming up with puns. This is a bit different for me because I usually deal in angst but this story popped into my head and begged to be written. Oh, and today the girl buying packets of aspirin was me because the story Annie told was my own. I made the connection to Annie and the rest of the story flowed :)

And as an added incentive, if you leave a review I will endevour to return the favor if you're an author yourself :) If you're not an author, well, then I'll give you a giant cookie (figuratively speaking).


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